Native Movement Blog
Closing Thoughts from Arts in Action Fellow
As Claire wraps up her Arts in Action Fellowship Program with Native Movement, we wanted to express our deepest gratitude to her for her work and support during the past three months. We look forward to seeing where her art practice takes her! Here are some final reflections on her time with us:
My time as Native Movement’s Arts in Action fellow is coming to a close. It has been a three month journey in which I have spent a week in Sitka with the team, attended the Just Transition Summit in Anchorage, learned to screen print, and have worked independently to create a piece to share with Native Movement.
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to create a piece of art that reflects my shared values with Native Movement. I decided to make a piece on language revitalization. I am so excited that it will be shared within the community.
Though I have enjoyed the entire three months, a highlight that will remain with me is our first week together in Sitka. I loved that the organization’s annual planning meeting was centered around an important community event; the yaaw ḵu.éex’. That initial week was a good indicator of how the rest of my experience would be. Native Movement is a truly community focused organization and I am so happy that my art is in good hands with them.
The Arts in Action Fellowship with Native Movement is a 3-month part-time position which provides hands-on experience working with our team. The goal of this Fellowship is to give space to be creative in a collaborative environment, build capacity in our communities for Arts in Action, and support BIPOC, and queer artists/creatives who are interested in expanding their skills around Arts organizing.
Your Language Loves You
Written by Claire Helgeson
As the current Arts in Action fellow, one of my tasks is to complete a piece for Native Movement to use that is relevant to the work they do as an organization. For this blog post, I wanted to share about the inspiration behind the piece I am creating.
One of the reasons my language journey is sustained despite the difficulty and obstacles is the grounding, healing, and strength it brings me. It gives me firm ground to walk in this world, and is much of the inspiration for my art. It is like a mother figure that is life affirming and nurturing, as well as providing rules to live by .
Our mothers are the first voices we hear, they are our first teachers. Intergenerational language transmission depends so much on the linguistic link between mother and child. I have witnessed so many powerful women language warriors who are determined to give their children the most precious gift of language and knowledge of who they are, because they know this will sustain them for the rest of their lives. It inspires me everyday at work seeing strong women who are building a school because there wasn’t one fit to teach their children what they wanted them to know about themselves and where they come from.
Our languages are meant for us.
They come from previous generations who always were aware of us and our wellbeing. They come from lands that sustained us, and they are the sound of the love for the land our peoples always had. Our languages love us in turn by soothing and healing colonial breakages in our minds, surrounding us with a container for our lives, and reforming a bridge for the deepest level of connection to others.
The Arts in Action Fellowship with Native Movement is a 3-month part-time position which provides hands-on experience working with our team. The goal of this Fellowship is to give space to be creative in a collaborative environment, build capacity in our communities for Arts in Action, and support BIPOC, and queer artists/creatives who are interested in expanding their skills around Arts organizing.